Dallas goalie Kari Lehtonen blocks a shot by Columbus' Brandon Dubinsky (17) in the first period during the Columbus Blue Jackets vs. the Dallas Stars NHL hockey game at the American Airlines Center in Dallas on Thursday, April 25, 2013.

The Stars owner expects to be in Dallas for the final game of the season
Saturday against Detroit and then for several days after as the organization
assesses what has happened. He said he has mixed feelings after the Stars were
eliminated from playoff contention Thursday.

“First and foremost, I’m disappointed,” he said by phone Friday from
Vancouver. “My personal belief was that we underachieved and missed the
playoffs. I felt we had a team right from last summer that was a playoff team.
To me, this is a disappointing result.”

However, he added that he’s also encouraged.

“From a macro sense, I think we’re in a great place,” he said. “There were
only two teams that played more rookies than we did, the Texas Stars are in a
very good place in the AHL, I think we made great steps forward in marketing and
in gaining traction with some of our corporate sponsors. I’m bullish on this
team and where it can go from here.”

Like many fans, he just felt it would get there a little more quickly.
Gaglardi said he would not talk about personnel moves before the season is over
and didn’t want to discuss the performance of general manager Joe Nieuwendyk or
coach Glen Gulutzan.

“There will be a time for that, but we’re not even done with the season yet,”
he said.

Still, the two biggest decisions that will face the Stars could be made
within the next week. Nieuwendyk has a year remaining on his contract, but the
Stars have missed the playoffs in all four seasons he has been GM. The Stars
have an option on Gulutzan’s contract after two seasons and can simply choose
not to bring him back as coach.

There have been extenuating circumstances for Nieuwendyk caused by the
bankruptcy of Hicks Sports Group, the ownership for almost two seasons by banks,
and the transition to a new owner in Gaglardi. Many fans, however, believe
Nieuwendyk could have made better decisions with his big-name players and with
his coaches.

Among the criticized moves are trading James Neal and Matt Niskanen to
Pittsburgh in 2011 for defenseman Alex Goligoski. Neal went on to become a
first-team NHL All-Star last season, and Niskanen picked up his play after the
trade. Goligoski has struggled at times to carry the expectations of a four-year
contract that averages $4.6 million a season.

In addition, many fans are upset with the deal that sent Michael Ryder and a
third-round draft pick to Montreal this season for Erik Cole. Ryder has 21
points (10 goals, 11 assists) in 26 games with the Canadiens, while Cole has
seven points (six goals, one assist) in 27 games with the Stars. Nieuwendyk has
also changed the direction of the organization with several acquisitions and
departures.

On the positive side, Nieuwendyk can point to the 2010 deal that brought
goalie Kari Lehtonen from Atlanta, as well as trades this season that helped
stock the prospect cupboard. Mix in free-agent signings of Brenden Dillon, Matt
Fraser, Ryan Garbutt and Antoine Roussel, and Nieuwendyk has added a lot.

However, the place where Nieuwendyk might feel the most heat is in hiring
coaches. He fired Dave Tippett when he took over the Stars, and Tippett went on
to be named Coach of the Year and take Phoenix to the 2012 Western Conference
finals. Nieuwendyk hired Marc Crawford to a three-year deal but fired him after
two. When looking for Crawford’s replacement, Nieuwendyk passed on Ken
Hitchcock, who went on to be named Coach of the Year with St. Louis.

Gulutzan took over as one of the youngest coaches in the NHL last season and
was given two assistants with little NHL experience in Paul Jerrard and Willie
Desjardins. Nieuwendyk rectified that matter by hiring veteran Curt Fraser last
summer while moving Desjardins to head coach of the Texas Stars. Both moves have
worked out well.

However, the Stars are 22-21-4, and their statistics sit mostly in the bottom
half of the NHL.

“When you miss by just a few points, you’re going to look at a lot of areas
and say, ‘If we just could have gotten those points,’” Gaglardi said. “But the
bottom line is we weren’t a good enough team, and we didn’t do enough. So now we
all need to get together and figure out what went wrong and address it.”

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